A cockpit* voice recorder badly damaged when a German jetliner* smashed into an Alpine mountainside and a crucial two-minute span when the pilot lost contact are vital clues into what caused the plane to go down, killing all 150 people on board.

Helicopters surveying the scattered debris lifted off at daybreak, hours ahead of the expected arrival of bereaved* families and the French, German and Spanish leaders. The flight from Spain to Germany went into an unexplained eight-minute dive ahead of crashing on March 24.

2. Japan gets biggest aircraft carrier

Japan’s Maritime Self Defense Force on March 25 took delivery of the biggest Japanese warship since World War II.

The Izumo with a crew of 470 sailors is a highly visible example of how Japan is expanding the capability of its military to operate overseas and enters service as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seeks lawmaker approval to loosen the restraints* of Japan’s pacifist post-war constitution.

The 248-meter Izumo resembles U.S. Marine Corp. amphibious assault* carriers in size and design but it is designated as a helicopter destroyer, a label that allows Japan to keep within the bounds of a constitutional ban on owning the means to wage* war.

3. Russia warns against missile plan

Russia on March 24 warned the United States against sending a ballistic missile* defense system to South Korea, saying it could threaten regional security.

Washington says it wants to deploy the system, known as THAAD, to South Korea as a deterrent* to military provocation* by North Korea.

“Such a development cannot but cause concern about the destructive influence of the United States’ global missile defense on international security,” Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

4. Phuket bus crash kills three Chinese

Three Chinese on holiday died and 17 were injured on March 25 in a bus crash on Thailand’s southern tourist island of Phuket, a senior official said.

The accident happened shortly before midday when a bus smashed through a crash barrier and plunged into a ravine* near Karon beach, on the island’s southwest coast.

“Two women and one man were killed. Of the 17 injured, one is in a serious condition,” Nisit Jansomwong, Phuket governor, told reporters.

5. S. Korea to join AIIB

South Korea on March 26 decided to join the China-proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as one of prospective founding members, the country’s finance ministry said.

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said in a statement that the South Korean Government made the decision after having discussions on the issue among related ministries, before sending a letter about the decision to China.

If South Korea is allowed by other prospective founding members to join the AIIB, the country is expected to sign a formal agreement around June, before finally becoming one of founding members of the AIIB, according to the ministry.

6. Arab nations plan joint force

Arab leaders announced on Sunday that they would form a joint military force to intervene* in Yemen’s chaos.

It is a dramatic step to quell* the unrest that has broken out in the wake of* the region’s uprisings.

The announcement at a summit of Arab leaders in Egypt came as warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition carried out scores of airstrikes across Yemen overnight on Saturday and again on Sunday, the fourth day of a campaign against Shiite rebels known as Houthis. That coordinated operation, involving mostly Arab countries, could represent a prototype for future joint Arab military interventions in the region.(SD-Agencies)